Online discussion was sparked after a netizen questioned why the pinyin for the province of "陕西" on a sign inside Shaanxi History Museum was written as "Shaanxi" instead of the expected "Shanxi". The museum responded on Saturday to clarify that "Shaanxi" is the official standard spelling.
This distinct spelling is used to differentiate the province from its neighbor Shanxi province. Shaanxi, located in inland Northwest China and home to the ancient capital Xi'an, uses the spelling with the double "a".
"Shaanxi" is the state-approved spelling used in specific contexts to distinguish the province from its neighbor "Shanxi". The extra vowel replaces the tone mark that would normally differentiate the two names. This spelling convention is only necessary when tone marks cannot be used.